Human Rights Writers Association (HURIWA) has said claim by Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mohammad Mahmood Abubakar, that the Federal Government lifted 4,205,576 Nigerians out of poverty in the last two years through its agricultural policies is untrue.
It recalled that the minister stated this in Abuja while observing this year’s World Food Day.
“We have lifted a total of 4,205,576 Nigerians out of poverty in the last two years. This is going to continue as part of Mr. President’s promise to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty within the next 10 years,” HURIWA quoted the minister as saying.
The group, however, challenged the minister to publish the names of the citizens and their exact locations.
It said the minister also contradicted himself when in the same speech he acknowledged the devastating impact of insecurity on farming in the country.
It said a lot of the farming activities that existed before the current administration have disappeared due to the activities of Boko Haram terrorists. It noted that armed Fulani attackers are on rampage in all parts of the country destroying crops and killing farmers, with Southern Kaduna being the major flashpoint.
HURIWA described the minister’s claim as unreal and an exaggeration. It appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari and his cabinet to implement result-oriented economic development programmes that would promote jobs, industrialisation, food security and infrastructural revolution.
